ASRB NET and ARS — Forestry and Agroforestry disciplines

India · Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR) · specialist · unverified source

83practice questions written to this syllabus
7subjects

Format

Unverified for forestry. In other disciplines NET is one paper of 150 objective questions, 2 hours, −1/3 per wrong answer, at Master's level; ARS adds mains and interview.

Sections

Over the years

Unverified: asrb.org.in could not be reached during research and the forestry discipline list was not confirmed. NET qualifies for lectureship/assistant professor in agricultural universities; ARS recruits ICAR scientists (e.g. at the Central Agroforestry Research Institute).

Official source: https://www.asrb.org.in/

Subjects this exam draws on

Biometry, Statistics & Computing for Forestry7 questionsForest Genetics & Tree Improvement15 questionsPlantation Forestry & Short-Rotation Crops6 questionsGrowth & Yield Modelling5 questionsAgroforestry Systems & Design10 questionsAgroforestry Management, Interactions & Economics21 questionsForestry Research Methods & Experimental Design19 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. A completely randomised design has 4 treatments with 5 replicates. How many error degrees of freedom are there?

  1. 12
  2. 19
  3. 15
  4. 16
Answer and working

D. 16

t(r − 1) = 4 × 4 = 16. 12 is the RBD value (t − 1)(r − 1); 19 is total df.

Biometry, Statistics & Computing for Forestry · Analysis of variance and basic experimental designs (CRD, RBD, Latin square)

2. High-grading, the repeated removal of the best trees from a forest, is a form of:

  1. Positive mass selection
  2. Genetic engineering
  3. Dysgenic selection
  4. Clonal propagation
Answer and working

C. Dysgenic selection

Removing the best phenotypes and leaving the worst to regenerate can lower genetic quality.

Forest Genetics & Tree Improvement · Variation in natural populations and its causes

3. A breeder can deploy either improved seed from a clonal seed orchard or tested clones. Which statement about genetic diversity and gain is correct?

  1. Clones give both the highest gain and the broadest diversity, so seed orchards are obsolete
  2. Seed orchard seed gives higher gain than any clone because open cross-pollination in the orchard doubles the additive variance
  3. Orchard seed gives moderate gain and broad diversity; clones give more gain but narrow diversity unless many are used
  4. Neither gives any gain over unimproved seed under plantation conditions
Answer and working

C. Orchard seed gives moderate gain and broad diversity; clones give more gain but narrow diversity unless many are used

There is a trade-off: seedlings from orchards are genetically variable, buffering risk, but carry only part of the genetic value; clones capture more gain but deploy few genotypes, so programmes use many clones in mosaics and keep a broad breeding population.

Plantation Forestry & Short-Rotation Crops · Species and clone choice for industrial plantations

4. The Gompertz function Y = A exp(−b e^(−kt)) has its inflection point at:

  1. A/2, exactly half of the asymptote
  2. A/e, or roughly 37% of the asymptote
  3. A, the asymptote itself, reached at infinite age
  4. A/4, a quarter of the asymptote at all parameter values
Answer and working

B. A/e, or roughly 37% of the asymptote

Setting the second derivative to zero gives Y = A/e for the Gompertz. The logistic inflects at A/2.

Growth & Yield Modelling · Growth curves and growth functions

5. ICAR launched the All India Coordinated Research Project on Agroforestry in:

  1. 1968
  2. 1976
  3. 1983
  4. 1995
Answer and working

C. 1983

AICRP-AF began in 1983; NRCAF Jhansi followed in 1988.

Agroforestry Systems & Design · Concept, definition and history of agroforestry

Practise it, and prove it

These notes are free to read here, with no account.

What the Laisha app adds:

Free for ten days, then a subscription. We would rather write that here than have you find it later.

Open Laisha →